If I had a dime, no, a penny, for every time my dad said actions speak louder than words, Forbes would have me on their billionaires list. He was a doer of the highest order. For him, every belief, emotion, and statement, and even those things unsaid, were backed by noticeable efforts.
When I read In Every Life (Beach Lane Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, February 07, 2023) written and illustrated by Marla Frazee for the first time, it was as if my dad was looking over my shoulder. When I read it a second time, it was as if every illustration was a testament to something I had heard over and over and over until it became a part of me. It is one thing to read or hear words, but when those words are made visible, their truth is revealed. This is what Marla Frazee gives to readers with this book.
In every birth,
blessed is the wonder.
This is the first of seven declarative sentences. Each sentence speaks to a different experience in human life. Some are more readily seen than others like a smile. Some happen for a few seconds like coming face to face with an animal in the wild, but are captured forever in our memories.
We read of goals brought to fruition. We read of mourning eased with solace. We read of the many forms of love and how deeply those loves can leave a mark on our lives.
Most of all, these words ask us to embrace our lives, enjoying all they bring to us. They ask us to be grateful for the happiness and for the heartbreak. These distinct words and what we find in each one makes us fully human.
On the verso, beneath the dedication, Marla Frazee addresses how this book began to form in her mind. She was attending a church service and listening to
a call-and-response version of a Jewish baby-naming blessing.
This was in 1998.
Her text for this book begins with the same two words. After the comma are the same three words for each sentence. In my mind, Marla Frazee has sought to redefine those seven words in the beginning of the blessing by reminding readers of an extraordinary or uncommon meaning embedded in each one.
There have only been a few times in my life when I've been hiking in the forest, strolling down a beach, or sailing on the water and witnessed sunlight shooting rays through the trees or clouds. It does not last, but seems to have a spirituality attached to it. When you see this on the front of the open dust jacket, you realize a special moment is being depicted. This moving glimpse of time featuring three generations is universal in its appeal. In the colors of the leaves on the trees, Marla Frazee gives us hints of the passing of seasons. The palette for the title text is just the beginning of the marvelous artwork we find in the interior of this title. It is varnished and raised to the touch.
On the other side of the spine, on the back, is a small vignette surrounded by white space. It is one of the images for the words moment and mystery. It is of a child ready to blow out a single lighted candle on a piece of cake. Is she thinking of a wish?
On the book case the front and back are covered in a cream canvas. A wide band of a darker shade of the purple hue used in the title text covers the spine and an inch and a quarter on either side. The title text on the book case is identical to the dust jacket. It is varnished but not raised to the touch.
The turquoise blue in the title text covers the opening and closing endpapers. The title text is enlarged for the title page. Opposite the verso page is a swirl of pastel shades of the colors in the title text beginning from a central focal point.
In a style which is uniquely her own, Marla Frazee has from eight to fourteen smaller images grouped on the two pages dedicated to each phrase. These smaller visuals represent an array of interpretations of the two main words in each blessing. Through her delicate use of color and intricate fine lines, she draws us into each of these illustrations. They are a marvelous mix of generations and ethnic backgrounds.
Each of these seven blessings is followed by a dramatic double-page wordless picture. These wordless scenes further reinforce the final word in each sentence. All of them are striking and panoramic. With the exception of the final one, the people and their companions are small in light of the majesty of their surroundings.
One of my many favorite smaller vignettes is of a young woman and a young man seated on a rustic wooden bench with small boulders under the bench. They have stopped to sip a bottled drink. They are looking directly into each other's eyes with their heads turned. To me it's that instant when you know the other person loves you as much as you love them. You wonder why it has happened at this exact second.
One of my many favorite wordless visuals is the vast seascape for the same blessing. Spread before readers across these two pages are crests of waves rolling toward a sandy beach under a sky with storm clouds moving away. Rays of sun are breaking through those clouds. A few brave sailors are out in their boats in the distance. Three dolphins are leaping from the water under the sunshine. An elder and a smaller child, their footprints making a path in the sand, are watching the dolphins. Seabirds crowd the beach and a few have taken flight. These two illustrations, like all of them in this book, are completely sensory.
This book, In Every Life written and illustrated by Marla Frazee, is rich and rare. Its eloquence needs to be savored often and shared widely. It will certainly promote discussions about what each day holds for all of us. It might be interesting to pair it with Life by Cynthia Rylant with illustrations by Brendan Wenzel or You Are A Beautiful Beginning by Nina Laden with illustrations by Kelsey Garrity-Riley. (And for some reason, it prompted me to watch and listen to The New York Times, An Illustrated Talk With Maurice Sendak.) I highly recommend this title for both your professional and personal collections.
To learn more about Marla Frazee and her other work, please access her website by following the link attached to her name. Marla Frazee has accounts on Instagram and Twitter. At the publisher's website, you can view interior images including the open dust jacket. Marla Frazee talks with Roger Sutton at The Horn Book about this title. Travis Jonker, host of this chat on The Yarn, School Library Journal, talks with Marla Frazee about this book. Author Pat Zietlow Miller showcases this book at Picture Book Builders.
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